Dial mechanism for radio apparatus



May 14, 1929;

W. A. READY DIAI; MECHANISM FOR 1316 APPARATUS Filed March 16, 1926 1 v4 MM f 7zve7war wz /LZ/vawvA'Ready. by

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' UNI-TED?STATES PATENT oFF lcE.

WILLIAM AI READY, or BRooxLmE, rrAssAenUsEr'rs.

DIAL imcrismsm ron RADIt) ArrARA'rUs.

Application filed mama is; race. serial n. 95,154.

a .My invention aims to provide iniprovements in dial mechanismsparticularly adaptedfor use in connect-non with securing the fine adustment of rotary parts of instruments-of 5 radim apparatus.

-- and arrangement of parts set forth in the fol-- The inventionconsists in the combination lowing'Lspecitication and particularly aspointed .out, in the claims thereof. The con v 1O struction hereindisclosed is in some respects similar to construct-ions disclosed in oneor more of my co'-p'endmg'-applications wh ch contain claims generic tocertain features embodied m the structure shown in the presentapplication and also to specific features which I have elected toprosecute in such other copending applications.

. Referrin to the drawin s:

t: u b

, invention being operatively.connected t 1ere-' Figure l-represents aside elevation ef a; variable condenser for a radioapparatus, thevariable 'vernier' mechanism embody n my to and illustrated partly insection and partly I in elevation.

drive the. latterat its minimum ratio of ang: I I a r displacement.

Like numerals refer to like parts through-- out the several views of thedrawings.

in the drawings, firepresent-s a.variable condenser of-well-known form,the same being: mounted inany suitable manner upon a panel 6. Thecondenser 5 embodies therein a frame 7, upon which a plurality of rotorplates 8 are mounted in any suitable manner upon-a rotoror dial shaft-9, the latter being journalled in said frame 7. Also mounted upon theframe 7 are a plurality of stator plates 10, the latter being mounted inany suitable manner upon posts 11- and 12, which,

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the mechanism .in turn, are mountedinlins ulat'ing blocks 13 and 14 respectively,fastenedto said frame.

In order that a very delicate adjustment may 'be obtained between therotor and stator plates, a variable Vernier mechanism is provided forthe condenser with cooperating indicating means and dial cover meanshereinafter described, Mounted upon the'outer extremity of the rotorshaft 9, upon the opposite side of-the panel 6 from that upon which .thecondenser 5 is mounted is an auxiliary panel or face plate 15, and allof the parts of the vernier mechanism are mounted upon said auxiliarypanel and soassembled as to constitute a self-contained unit which maybe attached'to or removed from said rotor shaft in its entirety at anytime without disturbing any of the various parts thereof. The panel orface plate 15 has a rim at its periphery to provide a shallowcompartment at the rear of the panel for housing the Vernier drivingmeans hereinafter more fully described.

Mounted upon the exterior of the auxiliary panel'.,15 is a socket orbushing 16 having. a shouldered portion 17 formed thereon which projectsthrough .said auxiliary panel, and located within a recess 18 provi dedat the rear of said panel is a disc 19 constituting a driven member,theopposite faces of which are beveled;slightly at 20 and 21 adj aicentto the peripherythereof. Thebeveled surfaces 20 and 21 are so related toeach other that if ext-ended outwardly so that they would intersect,they would form an acute angle of approximately 10. The bushing 16 ineffect forms a hub for the disc 19 and is rigidly secured to the rotorshaft!) by a screw 22.

The front face of the disc 19 is provided with a shallow recess 23 inwhich an indicater 24 of sheet material is rigidly secured in anysuitable manner, the front face of said indicator being flush with thefront surface of said disc. The indicator'24 is -provided with aplurality of graduations 25 and reference characters 26 which arevisible through van opening 27 provided in the auxiliary panel 15. Athin transparent member 28 is secured to the rear of the auxiliary panel15 and extends aeross the opening 27 and said transparent member has anopening 29 formed therein, thereby enabling the operator of the radioapparatus to mark the designations of the difi'erent radio stations uponthe surface of the indicator 24 at points opposite the graduations-25.

Also mounted upon the auxiliary panel 15,

parallel with the rotor shaft 9,'is a driving member also constituting aVernier shaft, the latter being rotatable within a bearing member 31which, in turn, is rotatable within the auxiliary panel 15. The bearingmember 31 has a resilient operating arm 32 rigidly fastened thereto. atthe outer extremity of which is a pin 33 which is adapted to spring,'iuto any one of a plurality of reccsses34 pro- .vidcd in the auxiliarypanel 15 and arranged concentric with the axis of the bearing member 31.The spring tension upon the resilient arm 32 furthermoreacts to hold ashouldered portion 35 of the bearing member 31 against a correspondinglyshouldered portion provided upon the auxiliary panel 15. Stop pins 36are provided adjacent to thO OPPOSItQ extremities of the row of recesses34- for the purpose of limiting the extent to which the bearing member'31 may be moved by the operating arm 32, the pin 33 of which en- Igages each of said stop pins.

The driving member, or Vernier shaft 30, embodies therein a frictionmember 37, the axis of which is eccentrically disposed to the axisof thebearing member 31 in which said friction member is mounted to rotate.The

"- friction member 37 has a bevelled face 38 formed thereon whichis-oppositeto and engages with the bevelled face 21 of the disc 19.

Another .friction member 39 is slidably mounted within the frictionmember 37, the. axis of said friction member 39 being coin cident withthe axis of the friction member 37. The friction member 39 has abevelled face 40 which is oppositely disposed to and engages'with thebevelled face 20 of the disc 19. The friction member 39 has a shoulderedstem portion 41 formed integral therewith which extends through thefriction member 37 and the latter has a recess 42 provided therein inwhich a spiral spring 43 is located, said spring encircling said stem41, and one end of said spring engages the friction member 37 at thebottom of the recess 42, while the opposite end of said spring engages acollar 44 mounted upon the stem 41 and held thereon by a pin 45. Theaction tion member 37 and is interposed between said operating knob andthe rocker member 31 and acts to hold a tapered shouldered portion 50of'said friction member; 37 within a-- correspondingly tapered recessprovided in the rocker member 31.

I t is desirable in transmitting the rotary motion from the drivingmember 30 to the driven member 19 that the speed of the'rotor shaftshall be considerably reduced, and to effect this-result the diameter ofthe friction members 37 and 39 is considerably less than that of thedisc '19 and the speed of the driven member 19. may be still furtherreduced as compared to that of thcldriving member 30 by moving thebearmg member 31 within the panel 15 and moving the median line of saiddriving member nearer to that a of said driven member, at which time thefrietionm'embers 37 and-39 will engage the disc 19 approximately asillustrated in Fig.

5, thereby changing the effective ratio between the drlvmg and drivenmembers.

In tuning the radio apparatus, the rotor plates 8 ofthe condenser 5are'adjusted rel atively to the stator plates 10 by'rotating theoperating knob 47 and the rotary motion from said knob is transmittedthrough the driving member or vernier shaft 30 to the driven member 19,the latter travelling at a greatly reduced speed from the speed of theoperating knob 47;

If the operating arm 32 of the bearing member 31 is positioned with thepin 33 thereof located within the extreme left-hand recess 34 oftheauxiliary panel 15, there-lative positions of the frictiontmembers 37and 39. with relation to the disc 19, will be .as illustrated in Fig.3,at which time the effective ratio of the driving member to the drivenmember is approximately seven to one.

If, however, the. operating arm 32 is moved to locate the pin 33 withinthe extreme righthand recess 34, the relative positions of the frictionmembers 37 and 39, with relation to the disc 19, will be as illustratedin Fig. 5, at which time the-effective ratio between the driving anddriven members will be approximately eighteen to one.

It will be observed that in transmitting the rotary motion from theoperating knob 47 to the rotor shaft 9, through the friction members 37and 39 and disc 19 that there will be absolutely no backlash or lostmotion and the members 37and 39 will always tightly grip the oppositefaces of the disc 19. In

mounting the auxiliary panel 15 to the panel '6 of the radio receiver, Ihave provided means in the form of a pin 60 Fig. 1 which engages bothpanels and prevents turning of the auxiliary panel 15 relative tothepancl 6. As the bushing 16 holds the auxiliary panel against thepanel 6, I have provided means which cooperate to hold-the auxiliarypanel in given relation with the panel 6 of a radio rc-' ceiver orlike-device.

While I have illustrated and described my invention somewhatspecifically, I do not wish to-be limited thereby and, therefore,reference is nade to the following claims to indicate the scope of myinvention.-

I claim:

1. -A radio apparatus having, in combination, a rotary driven member, anindicator fastthereto, a driving member comprising a pair of frictionmembers, means to hold said members in frictional engagement with.

- of contaet therebetween, whereby theeffec-- tive ratio between saidmembers is varied, and means .to lock sa id last-named means in .itsvarious positions.

2. A Vernier mechanism for a radio, apparatus having, in combination, a,panel, a driven member comprising a disc rotatablymounted with relationto said panel, an

indicator fast to said disc, a rotatable bearmg mounted in said panel, adrivingmember comprising a pair-of friction members I a mounted in saidbearing, and means to hold said friction members in engagement withtheopposite faces of said disc, whereby a rotary motion may be imparted tosaid inditcatoifiby the rotation of said friction mem bers', saidbearing being adapted to move said friction members to change thepositioniof their pointof contact -with said disc, whereby the effectiveratio between said driving member and driven member is varied.

3. A dial mechanism for a radio condenser I comprising, in combination,a dial, a shaft therefor adapted for connection with the re tor shaft ofthe condenser, and carrying a single large disc, a Vernier shafthaving apair of smaller discs mounted thereon and arranged to receive the edgeof said single disc therebe'tween, spring means pressing said pair ofdiscs against said single disc to form a frictional driving contacttherebes tween, a bearing for said Vernier shaft having its axiseccentric to the axis of said vernier sliaft,-and means for rotatingsaid bearing to ,move said Vernier shaft toward or away from saiddial'shaft whereby the contact relation between said pair of discs andsaid single disc is varied to effect different driving ratios betweenthe shafts.

4. A Vernier mechanism for a' radio apparatus having, in combination, apanel, a driven member comprising a disc rotatably mounted upon saidpanel, said disc being beveled upon its opposite faces adjacent to theperiphery thereof, a dial fast to said disc, a rotatable bearing membermounted. on said member slidably mounted in said first-named frictionmember and provided with a beveled surface engaging the other beveledsurf face of said disc, means to hold said friction members in yieldingengagement with said disc, whereby a rotary motioir may be imparted tosaid dial bythe rotation of said friction members, said hearing memberbe ing adapted to move said friction members to change the position oftheir point of contact with said disc, whereby the effective ratiobetween said disc and friction members is varied, and means to'lock saidbearing member in dili'erent positions upon said panel.

5. A Vernier. mechanism for a" radio apparatus having, in i-ombinatioinapanel, a driven member comprising a disc rotatably mounted upon saidpanel, said disc being beveled upon its opposite facesadjacent to theperiphery thereof, a dial fast to said disc, a. bearing member mountedon said panel, a friction member mounted in said bearing membereccentric to the axis thereof and provided with a beveled surfaceengaging a beveled surface of said disc, a second friction memberslidably mounted in said firstiiamed friction member and provided with abeveledsurface engaging the other beveled surface of said disc, a springinterposed between sai friction members and forcing said members intoyielding engagement with said disc, whereby a rotary motion may beimparted to said dial by the rotation of said.

friction members, said bearing member being adapted to move saidfriction membersto change the position of their point of con tact-withsaid disc, whereby the effective ratio betweensaid disc and frictionmembers is varied, and a resilient arm fast to said bearing memberadapted to yieldingly engage said panel and lock said rocker member indifferent positions relatively thereto.

6. An attachm'ent for effecting fine adj ustments of a condenservorthejlike comprising a hub member having a socket to receive the end ofthe shaft of the instrument to be adjusted and provided with a set screwentered through the side of said socket by which said hub member may beadjustably secured on said shaft, said set screw being exposed at thefront of the attachment and thereby enabling connection of the hub tothe device to be adjusted, a thin disc'attached to therear portion ofsaid hub and by which said; hub may be rotated, a thin flatcase coveringsaid disc, saidicasing having a bearing for the hub holding the hub andcase assembled indefinite relation with -the hub'exposed at the back ofthe case and Whereby the device may be applied as a unit over the faceof an instrument panel with the thin flat case close against the face ofthe panel and the hub attachable to the end of an instrument shaftprojecting through the panel, a pair of smaller opposed driving discs journaled in the case with their edges in gripping engagement over theedge portion of the larger first mentioned disc and a handle memberexposed at the front of the case for op erating said opposed drivingdiscs.

7. An'attachment for effecting fine adjustments of condensers or otherinstruments, comprising a face plate with a narrow flange about the edgeportion of the same providing a shallow chamber at the back of said faceplate, a hub member'journaled in said face plate, said memberbeing'exposed at the rear for engagement with the projecting end of aninstrument shaft and provided with means by which the same may besecured to said instrument shaft, a disc member secured to said hubmember and operating in the shallow chamber at the back of the faceplate, an operating knob member at the front of the face plate,co-operating opposed spring ten? sioned driving discs actuated from saidknob member and journaled in the face plate with their opposing edges ingripping engagement over an edge portion of the hub disc and cooperatingindicating means on the face plate and actuated from the hubrespectively for visualizing the rotative adjustments of the hubeffected by the knob member.

8. An attachment for effecting fine adj ust ments of a condenser or likeinstrument/comprising a face plate having a rearwardly flanged rimproviding a shallow compartment at the back of the face plate, a hubjournaled in said face plate, said hub being ex-' posed at the back ofthe face plate to engage the projecting end of an instrument shaft andprovided with means exposed at all'times and accessible at the front ofthe face plate for securing said hub in adjusted relation to the shaft,an adjusting member journaled in the face plate and accessible foroperation at the front of the face plate and drivihg'connections at theback of the face plate and housed in the shallow compartment aforesaid,said driving connections extending from said adjusting member to the huband proportioned to effect a reduced motion of the hub {3y rotarymovement of the adjusting mem- 9. An attachment for effecting fine adjustments of a condenser or like instrument comprisinga face plate havinga rearwardly flanged rim providing a shallow compartment at the back ofthe face plate, a hub journaled in said face plate, said hub beingexposed at the back of the face plate to engage the projecting end of aninstrument shaft and .provided with means accessible at the front of theface plate for securing said hub in adjusted relation to-the shaft, anadjustingmember j ournaled in the face plate and accessible foroperation at the front of the face plate, driving connections at theback of the face plate and housed in the shallow compartment aforesaid,said driving connections extending from said adjusting member to the huband proportioned to effect a reduced motion of the hub by rotarymovement of the adjusting member, co-operating indicating means carriedby the hub and face plate respectively and means for securing said faceplate with respect to a panel or the like to render the face plate afixed support for the adjusting member and the indicating means of theface plate fixed withrespect to the co-operating relatively movableindicating means of the hub. I

10, In a radio dial installation in combi nation with a panel having arevolvably adjustable shaft projecting therethrough, an inscribablc dialon the shaft having a scale thereon, a cover for the dial, said coverbeing apertured to expose a portion of the scale and to provide foraccess of a writing instrument through the cover to provide forinscription of a designation of adjustment 011 said dial in addition tosaid scale. 7

11. In a radio dial installation in combinationwith a panel having arevolvably adjustable shaft projecting therethrough, an inscribable dialon the shaft having a scale thereon, a cover for the dial, said coverbeing apertured to expose the graduations of the scale and independentlyto expose a portion of the dial face apart from the graduations topermit access. thereto of a marking instrument.

12. In a radio dial installation in combination with a panel having arevolvably adj ustable shaft projecting therethrough, a disc or dialadapted to be sccuredto said shaft, a

cover plate mounted in frontof the panel and having an aperturetherethrough to expose tuning indicia presented by the disc or dialmeans securing the cover plate against the panel and a knob or handleexposed at the front of the cover plate and connected for turning thedisc or dial.

13. In a radio dial installation in combination with a panel having arevolvably adjustable shaft projecting therethrough, a disc or dialadapted to be secured to said shaft, a cover plate mounted in front ofthe panel and having an aperture through which the end of the shaftpasses, a knob attached'to the shaft and provided with a bearingdesigned for holding the cover plate against the paneland means forinterlocking engagement between the panel and the cover plate to preventrotation of the cover-plate relative to the panel.

1 f. Ina radio dial installation in combination with a panel having arevolvably adjustable shaft projecting threthrough, a disc or dialadaptedto be secured to said shaft, a

having an aperture through which theend of the shaft passes, a knobattached to the shaft and provided with a bearing designed for holdingthe cover plate against the panel, means for interlock ng engagementbetween a the panel and the cover plate to prevent rotalike instrumentand having a rearwardly flanged rim providing a shallow compartment at'the back of the face plate, means ex posed at the back of said faceplate to engage the projecting end of an instrument shaft,

' fastening means for securing said means to the instrument shaft,handoperated means exposed at the front of said face plate for manualrotation, driving connections housed in said compartment and connectingthe hand operated means and the means for engagement with the instrumentshaft whereby rotation of. the hand operated means produces reducedmotion of the instrument shaft and cooperating indicating means forshowing the degree of rotationiof the shaft.

16. Anattachment for efie'cting fine adj ustment of a condenser or likeinstrument comprising a face plate adapted to be secured in fixedrelation to the panel of a radio set or like instrument and having arearwardly flanged rim providing a shallow compartment at the back ofthe face plate, means exposed at the back of said face plate to engagethe projecting end of an instrument shaft, fastening means for securingsaid means to the instrument shaft. hand operated means exposed at thefront ofisaid face plate for manual rotation. driving connections housedin said compartment and connecting the hand operated means and the meansfor engagement with the instrument shaft whereby rotation of the handoperated means produces reduced motion of the instrument shaft andcooperating indicating means-including an insdribed disc rotatable insaid compartment with said driving connections and exposed through anopening in said face plate and a fixed indicator located adjacent to theopening in the face plate-A vhereby the degree of rotation of the shaftmay be observed.

I 17. An attachment for effecting fine adjustment ,of a-eondenser orlike instrument comprising a face plate adapted to be secured in fixedrelation to the panel of a radio setv or like instrument and having arearwardly flanged rim providing a shallow compartment at the back ofthe face plate, means exposed at the back of said face plate to engagethe projecting end of an, instrument for showing the degree of rotationof the' shaft.

18. An attachment for effecting fine ad ustment of a condenser or likeinstrument comprising a face plate adapted to be secured in fixedrelation to the panel of a radio set or like instrument and having'arearwardly flanged rim providing a shallow compartment at the back ofthe face plate, means exposed at the back of said face plate to engagethe projecting end of an instrument shaft, fastening means for securingsaid means to the instrument shaft, hand operated means exposed at thefront of said face plate for manual rotation, friction drivingconnections including a relatively large disc and a small disc housed insaid compartment and connecting the hand operated means and the meansfor engagement with the instrument shaft, whereby rotation of the hand oerated means produces reduced motion of the instrument shaft andcooperating indicating .means including an inscribed disc carried bysaid larger disc and rotatable therewith, an openingin said face platefor exposing said dial and a fixed indicator point located adjacent tothe open- 'ing in the face plate whereby the degree of rotation ofthe-shaft may be observed.

19. An attachment for effecting fine adjust-ment of a condenser or likeinstrument comprising a face plate adapted to be secured in fixedrelation to the panel of a radio set or like instrument and having arearwardly flanged rim providing a shallow compartment at the back ofthe face plate, means exposed at the back of said 'face plate to engagethe projecting end of an instrument shaft, fastening means for securingsaid means to the instrument shaft, handoperated means exposed at thefront of said face plate for manual rotation, friction drivingconnections including a relatively large disc and a small disc housed insaid compartment and connecting the hand operated means and the meansfor engagement with the instrument shaft whereby rotation of the handoperated ,means produces reduced motion of the instrument shaft,cooperating indicating means for, showing the degree of rotation of theshaft and means for moving said discs laterally relative to each otherfor changing the ratio of rotation of one disc relative to the other. 1A

20. A dialmechanism for a radio apparatus, comprising in combination, amanually operable Vernier shaft, a dial shaft parallel to said Verniershaft, friction driving means operatively connecting said shafts wherebyrotation of the Vernier shaft produces reduced rotation of the dialshaft, a bearing for one of said shafts in which the shaft iseccentrically mounted, adjusting means oper ative to turn said bearing,thereby to move one shaft laterally relative to the other shaft 10 Intestimony whereof I have hereunto set 15 my hand.

\VILLIAM A. LEADY

